Another school year is upon us here at GC. The students have arrived and classes have begun. It reminds me why I love working in the realm of education. So much learning and growing going on around me :)
This year, I had the honor of speaking to about 300 freshman and transfer students about the journey they are embarking on here at GC. Each year this group participates in a service project of some sort. This year they went off campus to float the Meramec River, cleaning up any trash left behind by weekend floaters and planting pecan trees along their way. I actually participated in this same river trip when I was a freshman at GC. After the float trip, students arrive at a very nice camp and then stay the night. It's an opportunity for them to be a bit outside of their comfort zone, meet other people and mingle with faculty and staff who attend the trip as well.
Traditionally, our campus chaplain delivers an address to them the following morning. This year, however, she had to bow out. After making the tough decision to remain on campus this year, she asked if I would deliver the address in her stead. Now, I have never talked to that many people at one time. I wanted so badly to say no, but I had recently been challenged by my boss to begin to emerge as more of a leader on campus this year. That's hard as the counselor, since so much of what I do is confidential and takes place behind closed doors...so while I was yelling at myself to say no, I heard God say, "but don't you want to be a leader? is this not an opportunity to do just that?" So, I chose to ignore myself and told her that I would do it.
Luckily, she was kind enough to share her notes from previous years with me so I didn't have to build the address from scratch. Phew! I was pretty nervous as I walked up to the podium, but I kept reminding myself that God had placed this opportunity in front of me and He would equip me with the confidence to get through it. And He did! It went well and I even had a couple students approach me afterwards and say as much. Dane told me I should have done worse because now they'll be asking me to speak at other events :) I don't know about that, but it was a great opportunity for me to be stretched outside of my comfort zone and trust in God's provision. I'm glad I did it.
Outside of that, nothing too exciting has been going on in our lives lately. Reed got to go to another Cardinal's game with Papa and Pat. He came back with new hat, a fred bird stuffed animal (this was the giveaway at the gate), and a new bat for his collection.
Lately, he's been bringing up Grandma Rhonda a lot. He draws pictures of and for her. He asks if we can go visit her in heaven. Then, he asks why we can't go visit her in heaven. I both love and hate this. I love that he is interested in knowing her, but I hate that he can't actually know her. I love that he asks about her,  but I hate that he can't understand why he can't see her. I'm not sure if I'm responding to his questions correctly and it sucks that he just really can't understand right now. It's really tough. Most of the time I keep myself composed and don't really let it get to me. But sometimes, I have to fight back tears and begin to feel sorry for myself. After all, she should be here. He should know her. I shouldn't have to try to explain to a 2 year old why he can't go visit his grandma in heaven.
I do look forward to when he does understand and I am able to talk to him about her and what a wonderful woman she was.
Enough of that sad stuff...here are some pics:

 We went to Springfield for the State Fair...Reed wanted to take a look at the bean field across the street from Grandpa's. 

 Grandpa's motorcycle.

 Exploring the woods behind Grandpa's with dad. 

 Just being crazy.

Making a butterfly that he would later name "special"

I can't believe that September is just a few days away. September will bring us Dane's birthday as well as Aunt Darci's birthday and wedding!!! Reed's gonna make quite the handsome ring bearer. Fun stuff headed our way. 

In Which I Explain Why Water Is So Important To Me

I was thinking on my drive into work today (dangerous, I know.) It was foggy and clearly on the brink of raining. Rain got me thinking of water. Water got me thinking of swimming. And swimming got me all nostalgic.

Let me back up a bit (and this is gonna be long)...


I can not remember a time that I was ever afraid of the water. When my older brother and I were about six and seven my parents decided to sign us up for a competitive swim team. Both of us had done really well in swim lessons and seemed so comfortable in the water that it just seemed to make sense. My mom had been a swimmer as a child/teenager and thought we might enjoy it as much as she had.

We started with the team in the summer. Summer swim teams are a little less competitive and a bit more relaxed and fun. We practiced every morning, so early that the water was still cold and was a shock to the system when you jumped in. I never felt like I didn't belong. I never felt like I wasn't good enough. I swam for my best time and I swam for my team.

My bro and I must have done well and enjoyed it enough because we didn't stop swimming when summer ended. We joined the winter league which was a lot more intense and required a bigger commitment. Every day after school we would drop our school bags and grab our swim bags. Then we'd head right back out the door. Our mom would bring us to practice and our dad would meet her there. Most nights she would then go home to get dinner ready and then dad would take us home. We'd eat together, do homework, and then I would often get my hair rinsed out in the sink by my mom so it didn't turn green. At least one weekend a month was dedicated to a swim meet. Unlike summer when meets lasted a few hours and could be held in an evening, these meets lasted 2 days, beginning at 7am and closing down around 6pm. There were hundreds of swimmers and many teams represented. These meets were for serious swimmers only. Those just seeking to simply "have fun" need not apply.

Don't get me wrong. It was fun. My best friends were the girls that I swam with. We had an awesome relay and a coach who called us his girls. When we walked to our starting block he would yell out to us and we would strike a pose showing our muscles (we were like 10...it was cute). I wasn't just ok, I was actually good. I usually raced in the A heat (the fastest) and once, when I missed my heat because I wasn't paying attention or something, they allowed me to swim in the boys heat and I beat them all! It was the slowest boys heat, but I was just a little girl and I beat the boys! Needless to say, they weren't too happy about that.

I'm sure there were times when I would have rather just plopped on the couch to watch TV after school instead of dragging my booty to practice, but I was in killer shape. When I was in 4th grade I did more pull ups than the boys during our fitness test. And swimming was a part of my identity. I was Mallory: sister, daughter, student, friend, great butterflier and IM'er. I had a shirt that said: "Eat, Sleep, Drink, Swim" and that's pretty much what I did. (I also had one that said "Kiss my wake"...I was so cool).

When we got to middle school there was some sort of political situation with the team (the board wanted to get rid of one of the coaches) and the team was fractured because of this. My parents gave my brother and me the choice to stop swimming if we wanted to. We were in middle school. Friends were what mattered most. We both stopped swimming.

After a couple years off I joined the high school team. My 10 year old self could have beat the pants off of me, but by high school swim team standards I was good. I swam all four years and made some good friends. My brothers and I also got gigs as lifeguards. My older bro and I gave lessons and advanced to head guards. Our little bro has surpassed us both and now manages a pool.

So, now you can see why water is so important to me. The only down side to swimming is that you have to have access to a pool to do it. I wish I could swim more. When you first dive in there is just this awesome peace that envelopes you. Before you break the surface it's just you and the water. No noise, nobody needing your attention...you don't need to do anything but remember to eventually come up for air.

Swimming taught me a lot of things. I learned about keeping commitments. I learned about being a team player. I learned about always bringing my best to the table. I learned that my parents would always be there to watch me and support me. I learned the importance of practice. I learned how to work with people I didn't necessarily like. I built confidence in myself. I found peace.

Maybe one day Reed will be a swimmer. Maybe not. But either way, I hope he finds something that impacts his life like swimming has impacted mine.

All Good Things Come to an End

Alas...my first summer break is over. I am now officially back at work. This would be a lot more sad if I was heading back to a job I hate, so I am super grateful that I actually like my job. Reed was excited to see his babysitter and her toys and I'm sure we'll fall back into our August-May routine with ease.

The second half of our break went well. It was so nice that this summer was not filled with scorching hot days. I'm a baby when it comes to being outside in that kind of weather, so pleasant days meant a lot more outside time for Reed. We played at the playground almost daily.
Reed encountered a boy one day who was having a hard time sharing his trucks. The next day Reed told me he wanted to bring some trucks to the park so that he could share them. He picked out a couple and I put them in the stroller. As soon as we got to the park he grabbed the toys and sought out some "friends" to share with. It was super cute to see him encouraging others to play with his toys and even showing them how they worked. He continued to bring trucks to the park for the rest of the summer and made quite a few friends as he shared them. I love his kind heart.

So, I didn't mention it in the last post because I didn't want to be making a mountain out of a molehill and I feared that saying something would only cause my anxiety to grow. Anyway, as you may remember Reed had 2 eye surgeries when he was a baby (one at 5 months, one at 10 months) to correct something called strabismus (his is a mild case for sure). As follow up to these surgeries we go to the eye center at Children's Hospital every 6 months or so. Most of the time we meet with a regular doctor, but every now and then we meet with his surgeon. Last week we had an appointment with the surgeon. I was nervous because over the past few months I have noticed that Reed's right eye has been mis-aligning itself quite often and I was afraid he would tell me we need to do another surgery. He did agree that his left eye is showing some vertical misalignment, but he doesn't want to jump into surgery just yet. He explained to me that Reed's previous surgeries were done to correct horizontal misalignment and that it's not uncommon for some vertical misalignment to occur as the child grows older. Luckily, as of now, Reed's is very slight and could correct itself. We will wait a couple months and go back to have him checked out in October. If at that time it hasn't improved, we will probably have to start patching his left eye so that he will be forced to use his right eye more which can sometimes make it stronger and correct the misalignment. The doctor did note that Reed does seem to be favoring his left eye and he wants to make sure that this doesn't turn into something more serious (both eyes need to be depended on equally or depth perception can be affected).
Anyway, all that to say that there isn't anything to be worried about yet. I am grateful for a surgeon who doesn't immediately jump to surgery as the only option. I am grateful that he wants to exhaust his other options and see if Reed's body will make the correction on its own before attempting to fix it himself. I am also grateful for a pediatrician who was able to catch this when Reed was only 4 months old so that we have been able to get and stay ahead of this and that Reed's vision has not been compromised because of it. While surgery is always scary (even routine ones) there is a lot to be grateful for here.

Here are some pics!

 After a few days of rain, celebrating a sunny day!

 Cousin love. 

 Who says you can't go for a run in the rain? 

Reed loves looking at Papa's bat collection.....

So Papa helped him start one of his own!

                                         

  Reed says this is a picture of Grandma Rhonda. In fact, she is the topic of most of his drawings.

 Playing at Uncle Tyler's pool.

 Sharing trucks with friends at the park.

 Playing the drums and singing ABC's in front of adoring fans at the park.

Mowing the lawn. 

Celebrating our last day of summer break with a cupcake and a sweet drink. 

Here's to a new school year! When can I start counting down the days until Winter break? ;)